January 9 - The United Nations headquarters was officially opened in New York.January 15 - Ilse Koch, The "Witch of Buchenwald," wife of the Commandant of the Buchenwald concentration camp, was sentenced to life imprisonment in a court in West Germany. January 27 - Nuclear testing at the Nevada Test Site began with a one-kiloton bomb dropped on Frenchman Flats, northwest of Las Vegas, Nevada. February 1 - The United Nations General Assembly declared that China is the aggressor in the Korean War. March 29 - Ethel and Julius Rosenberg were convicted of conspiracy to commit espionage. On April 5 they were sentenced to death.Rodgers and Hammerstein's The King and I opened on Broadway and ran for three years. It was the first Rodgers and Hammerstein show specifically written for someone - actress Gertrude Lawrence. The show made a star of Yul Brynner. April 11 - US President Harry S. Truman relieved General Douglas MacArthur of his Far Eastern commands. April 11 - After its removal from Westminster Abbey on Christmas Day, 1950, the Stone of Scone resurfaced on the altar of Arbroath Abbey. April 18 - The reaty of Paris was adopted, establishing European Coal and Steel Community. May 3 - King George VI opened London's Royal Festival Hall as patron. Opening of the Festival of Britain May 25 - The first test of an atomic bomb "boosted" by the inclusion of thermonuclear materials, in a test on Enewetok Atoll in the Marshall Islands by the US. July 1 - Judy Garland opened the first of 14 concerts in Dublin, Ireland at the Theatre Royal. July 30 - David Lean's Oliver Twist was finally shown in the United States, after 10 minutes of supposedly anti-Semitic references and closeups of Alec Guinness as Fagin were cut. The film was not shown uncut in America until 1970. September 8 - In San Francisco 48 nations signed a peace treaty with Japan in formal recognition of the end of the Pacific War. September 10 - Britain began an economic boycott of Iran. September 18 - The film A Streetcar Named Desire premiered and became a critical and box-office smash. September 26-28 - Blue sun seen over Europe: the effect was due to ash coming from the Canadian forest fires four months previously. October 24 - US President Harry Truman declared official end to war with Germany. October 26 - Winston Churchill re-elected Prime Minister of the United Kingdom; his foreign minister was Anthony Eden October 31 - Scrooge, starring Alastair Sim, opened in England. November 11 - Juan Peron re-elected president of Argentina November 24 - The Broadway play Gigi opened starring little known actress Audrey Hepburn playing the lead character. December 23 - The film The African Queen, starring Humphrey Bogart and Katharine Hepburn, premiered in Hollywood. December 24 Libya became independent from Italy.

Also that year:*The British Board of Film Censors was created.*First broadcast of The Goon Show.*October 15 - The first oral contraceptive was invented. *Rock the Joint released by Bill Haley and the Comets.*Festival of Britain began on May 4.*Pensionable age dropped from 70 for men and 65 for women to 65 and 60 respectively.*South African Nationalist government voted to disenfranchise "coloured" people.*The British submarine Affray sank in the English Channel.*The first Miss World Contest was held in London.*Snowdonia became a national park.

BORN IN 1951 Rush Limbaugh, American radio personality January 30 - Phil Collins, English musician and producer February 14 - Kevin Keegan, English footballer and football manager Jane Seymour, English actress Gordon Brown, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom February 27 - Steve Harley, British musician (Cockney Rebel) March 1 - Mike Read, British television presenter and radio disc jockey March 4 - Kenny Dalglish, Scottish footballer and football manager Chris Rea, British singer and musician Kurt Russell, American actor Peter Davison, British actor June 8 - Bonnie Tyler, Welsh singer July 8 - Anjelica Huston, American actress September 5 - Michael Keaton, American actor September 25 - Mark Hamill, American actor October 2 - Sting, British musician October 5 - Bob Geldof, Irish musician.